Is TSA taking our phones at Security to check them for "anti-Trump" content?

Rumor/fact? Logistically think about what would happen if TSA lines included checks of phone content. No one would board their planes on time because of the huge backup at security.

Enjoy your trip!

Surely America hasn’t gone as far as North Korea or the Third Reich? Yet.

OP don’t drink the cool aid.

It’s Absolute rubbish.

See my response to your other post on the same subject.

See my response on your other post.

"Have you read this recent post? Is TSA now checking our phones?"

I hope so since the OP here also started that thread.

Google AI response:

"No, the TSA generally does not have the authority to inspect the contents of your phone during security screenings. However, they may ask to inspect a device if it appears suspicious during X-ray screening or if they have reasonable suspicion that the device contains contraband. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), not the TSA, has the authority to search your phone when entering the US. "

Note: AI is not authoritative but I here it corresponds to what I believe to be true.

There are reports of isolated incidents of harassing inspections but there are no mass activities being reported as of yet. I hope you have a great time on your RS tour. His tours are fantastic!

Happy Travels.

https://www.mississippi-lawyers.com/blog/amp/hands-off-my-iphone/

I'd be very nervous at the US border if I had sleeve tattoos on show, purple hair and piercings or if my skin was anything else other than lily white.

TSA is not doing this but Immigration has. A French researcher was denied entry based upon his phone content. US government officials denied that the reason was because of what was found about Trump on his phone. The French government is not convinced:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/world/europe/us-france-scientist-entry-trump.html

A recent Australian visitor was held 8 hours at the border for the same nebulous reason and missed his cruise.

https://liveandletsfly.com/australian-denied-entry-usa/

According to friends from Melbourne, border scrutiny for Australians entering the US is big news in Australia, particularly as they all need visas before entering.

CBP has always had the right to inspect your phone or computer but it is not routinely done.
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/cbp-search-authority/border-search-electronic-devices

Here is what it says about U.S. citizens (scroll down to ”Am I obligated to provide my electonic device and associated password to CBP?”)

If a traveler being admitted as a U.S. citizen does not present their device in a condition that allows for examination, the U.S. citizen traveler will not be denied entry into the United States based on CBP’s inability to complete an inspection of their device. However, as noted above, their device may be subject to exclusion, detention, or other appropriate action or disposition.

Not TSA. But CBP/ICE, yes.

When entering the country, your due-process rights are limited. How limited? Depends on your immigration status/citizenship.

You're a non-citizen? You have few (if any) rights to due process, at least until they decide to release you. Until then, it's pretty much anything goes. This applies to Green Card holders, foreign nationals with valid visas to enter/return to the US, basically anyone except a US citizen.

You're a US citizen? Then legally, you do not have to make the contents of your devices available to ICE agents. But they can detain you indefinitely if they decide to. If you do not comply with their request to allow them access to your device, it's anybody's guess how they may react.

Even the due-process rights that you technically have (or should have) may not be in force if they decide to take action against you, and you are either held or immediately deported. In that case, your only recourse may be legal actions after-the-fact - which can mean very little (as we have seen in some high profile cases).

The most egregious cases that have received widespread press tend to involve foreign nationals (returning from short trips overseas). There are plenty of those in the news. There is often some "gotcha" or "hook" that appears to be what triggered the deportation action - the individual spoke out publicly against the current administration (expecting 1st amendment protections...the 1st amendment does apply to all people here, legally or otherwise - but if the administration decides to grab you and quickly put you on a deportation flight, there's little you can do once you land in El Salvador or wherever they send you). Something was found on their phones (photos from someone's funeral, who knows what else). Or they were just looking for trouble for you and found something that made them say, you're next.

There now are countless cases every day that fall below the media attention threshold; these are typically just people being grilled for hours at an airport but no cold showers, no shaved heads, no instant deportation to a private prison in El Salvador. I have family members who got a dose of this about a week ago. Not fun and to some extent traumatic but not life-threatening.

So your risk profile is probably fairly easy to gauge. A US citizen with some online rants about he who shall not be named? Probably not highly risky if you look like Rick Steves (or me). If you're more swarthy and/or are not a US citizen (even if you have broken no laws)? Time to be more circumspect.

Here's a new one from yesterday: The Guardian - Australian with working visa detained and deported on returning to US from sister’s memorial

I'm going overseas this coming week. I am taking no extra steps to hide my views from anyone upon my return - though I'm probably not going to look for an extended discussion with the ICE agents (because others in my traveling party want to minimize their risk). If ICE wants to search my phone I'm not going to give them access (note to self: turn off face ID recognition before we land...). They can hold me as long as they want. What's on my phone is none of their damn business, they can search the internet all day for dirt on me and my log-ins for Rick Steves dot com and elsewhere. Maybe I'll be posting a Trip Report from El Salvador one of these days (maybe I'll see Rick there...). If they want to make an example of me, they can do that. I'm not going to let them bully me.

Good luck.

My understanding is that, no, TSA is not vacuuming up mobile phones.

That said, there are instances of Customs and Border Protection agents confiscating phones of foreign nationals and, in at least one case, attempting to confiscate the phone of an American citizen.

These are uncertain times and no one can confidently predict how things will evolve.

The advice I've seen is to disable biometric access to one's phone (fingerprint, face recognition) and revert to passwords, the longer and more secure the better. Evidently, from a legal perspective, there are different levels of protection for what you are (face, fingerprint) versus what you know (passwords).

Paranoia works very well. . Becoming fearful from the likely unsubstantiated views of a friend is sad, Personally I hope this thread “goes away”.

There are some incorrect statements in this thread and I would like to correct them.

If you are a US citizen, you can't be denied entry into the US. You do not have to unlock your phone for CBP when entering the country but they have the right to confiscate it to investigate further. They will do this before you are admitted to the country because once you are admitted you are covered by the 4th amendment of the Constitution regarding unreasonable search. Until you are admitted, you have no constitutional rights. But they cannot hold you indefinitely without admitting you. And they won't be sending you to some prison in Central America.

If you are not a citizen, and you refuse to share your phone, CBP may refuse you entry into the country and put you on the next plane to where you came from. It is not being deported since you were never admitted. And technically, to deport someone, a judge has to sign off on it.

This has been the law and operating procedure for many, many years. Not just the past few months.

Unfortunately, information spreading today is like playing the game "telephone." What the original person said and what someone hears down the line may be completely different.

If there is something you don't want the government to see, remove it from your phone. You don't have to wipe your entire phone. If it's important, put it in the cloud. Remove the cloud app from your phone and reinstall it after you are admitted.

Becoming fearful from the likely unsubstantiated views of a friend is
sad, Personally I hope this thread “goes away”.

DItto. This sort of thread just spreads this sort of fear-mongering.

This sort of thread just spreads this sort of fear-mongering.

This is valuable information for travelers. It is what the current situation happens to be and is no more "fear mongering" than is warning tourists about the real danger of pickpockets in Paris.

Information pertinent to travel is well within the scope of a travel forum.

Below are links to FY24 Annual Statistics and FY23 Annual Statistics for Border Search of Electronic Devices at Ports of Entry when BIDEN was President. Searches of electronic devices at ports of entry are not new.

"All travelers crossing the United States border are subject to CBP inspection. On rare occasions, CBP officers may search a traveler’s mobile phone, computer, camera, or other electronic devices during the inspection process. These searches have been used to identify and combat terrorist activity, child pornography, drug smuggling, human smuggling, bulk cash smuggling, human trafficking, export control violations, intellectual property rights violations and visa fraud, among other violations. Furthermore, border searches of electronic devices are often integral to determining an individual’s intentions upon entry to the United States and thus provide additional information relevant to admissibility of foreign nationals under U.S. immigration laws."

Source: Border Search of Electronic Devices at Ports of Entry
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/cbp-search-authority/border-search-electronic-devices

FY24 Annual Statistics
https://www.cbp.gov/document/stats/border-search-electronic-media-fy24

FY23 Annual Statistics
https://www.cbp.gov/document/stats/border-search-electronic-media-fy23

Would be really interesting to find the Monthly reports for this year to compare the percentages to the annual records Lane dug up.

Has there been a real change in the percentages, or just a greater degree of 'awareness' of what is happening

Has there been a real change in the percentages, or just a greater
degree of 'awareness' of what is happening.

If the numbers are higher now, i suspect that one of our unbiased news outlets would have made sure that we know by now.